Hara Bhara Kebab - Valentine's Day Special.

Wishing all of you my wonderful readers, A Happy Valentine's Day. !!!. Though many consider Valentine's Day a Hallmark holiday for me its my favorite holiday. I love this day so much , which explains my wedding anniversary to be on Valentine's Day. This was the only prerequisite I had when wedding arrangements were going on and when asked what would I like, there was only one thing on my wishlist - to get married on Valentine's Day... This day does have a magical effect on people.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups frozen cut spinach
• 3 medium sized potatoes- boiled and mashed
• 1/2 cup broccoli finely chopped
• 1/2 Avocado mashed
• 1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped
• 2 tbsp ginger finely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh Cilantro finely chopped
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp Amchur powder(dry mango powder)
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• oil for shallow frying

You could add a little more bread crumbs to the kebab mixture if you are unable to shape them into kebabs , due to the moisture content in the spinach.
Preparation :

• In a Colander, run the frozen spinach under running hot water and squeeze all the liquid and make it as dry as possible. You could even thaw the spinach by keeping it out and once its at room temperature just squeeze the liquid.
• Now in a bowl, add the spinach, chopped broccoli , Avocado, mashed potatoes, Jalapeno pepper, ginger, Cilantro, salt, amchur powder and mix it well. Next add the lime juice and mix. Add the bread crumbs.

• Divide the mixture into 12 -14 equal portions. Shape it into the desired shape. You could even make it heart shaped for Valentine's day. I just made them into round disk shapes(like tikkis) and elongated kebabish shape.
• Shallow fry on a griddle or a Tawa. Just fry for couple minutes on each side till you get a nice golden brown color.
• Ready to serve with tomato ketchup or green cilantro chutney. This Recipe serves 4.

Seviyan Kheer - Semiya Payasam - Sweet Vermicelli Pudding -

Seviyan Kheer is a great Indian dessert and I absolutely love it. The best part is, it is so easy to prepare and yet tastes divine. Traditionally in India, Seviyan Kheer is associated with the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr. In Southern part of India its also known as Semiya Payasam and its made during the festivals of Onam (harvest festival of Kerala) and Vishu (New year). For a person like me who loves to celebrate Life itself and since food is a great way to celebrate.So grab a bowl and spoon and lets Celebrate LIFE.!!!!. For those of you who have made new year's resolution of staying away from desserts and anything sweet......Please do not be mad at ME.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vermicelli broken into small pieces
• 5 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 green cardamons -crushed
• 1/4 cup raisins and chopped nuts(almonds, cashews, pistacchios)
• 2 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter

Preparation:

1. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan and fry the rasins and the chopped nuts. Keep it aside.
2. Next in the same pan, roast the vermicelli till golden brown. Do this on a medium low flame. Keep it aside.
3. Now add milk to the pan and bring it to a boil. Add sugar and the crushed cardamons. Let the milk simmer on a low flame for about 15 minutes.
4. Add the fried rasins and nuts and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. All the various flavors of the nuts will be infused in this milk.
5. Now add the roasted Vermicelli kept aside. Let this simmer for about 5-8 minutes.
6. Your delicious Seviyan Kheer is ready to serve. This kheer can be enjoyed hot or cold. Leftovers if you have any tastes just as good. This kheer does have the tendency to thicken up. If that happens, do not panic just add some warm milk to it, adjust the sugar and ENJOY.
   Alright gals and guys , if you could all excuse me please, Let me help myself to another bowl of Seviyan.

CAUTION: Its going to be very hard to restrict youself to just one bowl/helping of Kheer. If you intend to share it with your loved ones..Now would be a good time to serve Seviyan into their respective bowls ...before you indulge in tasting your share..Don't tell me I did not WARN YOU !!!! How would I know,well I'm telling you from experience.
Now its Award Time .....

Vinolia my dear blogpal from Akal's Saappadu has been so kind and generous and has showered her love in the form of this award. Do check out her blog if you have'nt and like me You will have a pleasurable and enriching experience. Her pictorial step by step instructions are her main asset , which makes her recipes so easy to follow combined with her beautiful Clicks.


Siddhi my dear blogpal from Cooked Dil se has been a sweetheart and generous to consider me worthy of this award. Do check our her blog and you will say this with me..
She has Cooked Dil se and We'll appreciate it Dil se... Her passion shows in her cooking and I can vouch for her ..that its Cooked Dil se(from the heart)...

I have been tagged before and you could check it out here. Also kindly check the rules of the Kreative Blogger Award here.

NOw if you are still reading this post..Here are the rules for the awards..The 1st 7 readers who comment on today's post are the lucky recipients of the Kreative BLogger award as well as the I love your Yummylicious Blog Award.

Now from the 8th to the 20th lucky readers who comment on this post will take home (to thier blog)- the beautiful - I love your Yummylicious Blog Award.

Naan- Indian Bread(No yeast)

Naan which is an oven-baked flatbread is available and popular world wide and is an excellent accompaniment to any curry. Naan is traditionally prepared in a charcoal-fired clay oven or tandoor. But you could even bake them in the regular oven.

This recipe is from the book, "Curry Cuisine -Fragrant dishes from India ,Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia".

Ingredients :

• 2 heaping tbsp caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups whole milk
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

Caster (or castor) sugar is superfine refined sugar. Its finer than granulated sugar but not as fine as confectionary sugar. Keep some milk handy, when kneading the dough, I did have to add a little more milk approximately 1/4 cup more than recommended.

Preparation :

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place 2 non stick baking sheets in the oven to heat up.
2. Whisk sugar and eggs with milk in a small mixing bowl, until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Take the flour in a large mixing bowl and mix in the baking powder and salt.
4. Gradually add the milk mixture to the flour, mixing with your hand, and knead lightly,just enough to make a soft dough. (Take care not to knead too much or the dough will beome too stretchy). Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave to rest for 15 for minutes.
5. Add the oil and mix lightly to incorporate it into the dough. Divide the dough into 16 small balls. Roll out each ball into a round about 4" in diameter. (To Form into the traditional "teardrop" shape, lay a round over one palm and gently pull one edge down until it stretches a bit).
6. Place the breads on the hot trays and bake for 4-5 minutes.
7. Serve warm. You could apply some butter before serving just when its hot out of the oven. It tastes divine. This recipe yields 16 Naans.

**You could even bake the Naan directly on the oven rack. If you wish, just layer it with aluminium foil. Thats how I did it.

16 Bean Soup.

What more Can I say, the name says it all. Lets say its , GOODNESS in a Bowl.!!!! . No, 16 Bean soup is not a typo, I really mean it . It does have 16 - sixteen beans in it. How would I know, of course I counted the listed ingredients at the back of this Goya- 16 bean soup Mix packet. When I made this soup last night, I kept thinking ,how come I did not come across this nutritional powerhouse earlier. But its Never too late. So what are you waiting for, grab youself this wonderful medley of beans and see(taste) for yourselves.


Ingredients:

• 2 cups Goya 16 Bean Soup Mix
• 1 medium red onion chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic finely sliced
• 2 cups tomatoes chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp red crushed pepper
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4-5 cups vegetable stock/water
• 4-5 cups water

You could add 1 carrot and about 2 stalks of chopped celery as well. Thats how its made traditionally I suppose.

Preparation :

• Soak the 2 cups of 16 bean soup mix in about 4-5 cups of cold water and keep it overnight.(You could do the quick way too by soaking them in boiling water and keeping them aside covered for about 45 minutes to an hour).
• Drain and rinse the beans . This is how they look after a goodnight Soak...
  

• Now In a large saucepan combine beans with about 4-5 cups of water and salt and cook covered until almost cooked. For those of us who are aware of the power and speed of a pressure cooker, pressure cook till almost cooked.
• In the meanwhile heat oil in a thick bottomed pan. Add the bay leaves. Add the chopped onions and garlic. Saute till golden brown.
• Add the tomatoes and fry for about 2-3 minutes. Add the red crushed pepper. Add about 4-5 cups of vegetable stock/water. By now, the beans would have been cooked, add them. Adjust the salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat,cover and simmer until beans are tender.
• Your 16 bean soup is ready to serve. We enjoyed our comforting soup with garlic bread.
• This recipe serves 4.

This is for the benefit of readers who are interested in knowing the ingredients in this 16 Bean Mix . Here it goes - Pinto Beans, Small Red Beans, Pink Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Great Northern Beans, Baby Lima Beans, Large Lima Beans, Blackeye Peas,Small White Beans,Black Beans, Whole Green Peas, Yellow Split Peas, Green Split Peas, Lentils, Chick Peas and Pearl Barley.... What More Can one ask for...Enjoy.

Lazeez Broccoli Paneer - Curried Broccoli And Cheese

Today is India's 61st Republic Day which is celebrated on 26th January every year. It marks the day on which the 'Constitution of India' was adopted. In the year 1950, on this very day, the country made its transition, from a 'British Dominion' to a 'Republic'. Wishing You all Happy Republic Day. !!!

In going with the Republic day Celebrations , I decided to cook keeping in mind the colors of the Indian Flag - Deep Saffron, White and Green. Hoping you can see those colors reflected in this preparation..atleast the green of the broccoli and almost white of the paneer.

Ingredients :

• 4 -5 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 10 0z Paneer/Indian Cheese cubed
• 1 red onion chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 " piece of ginger
• 2 large tomatoes pureed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 black cardamom
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
• salt to taste
• 4- 5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lime juice

Preparation :

• Steam cook the Broccoli until tender. (Don't really have to cook broccoli for long time- It can be even eaten raw). Then puree it in a blender.

• Shallow fry the Paneer cubes .(This step is optional.)
• Now make a puree of onion, ginger and garlic and another puree of tomatoes.
• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan. Add the bay leaves and black cardamom. Add the onion pureed mixture. Saute till its golden brown and you no longer get the raw smell of onion.
• Add the tomato puree and fry for about 2-3 minutes and add the dry spices (turmeric powder , red chilli powder , garam masala and salt.
• Add the broccoli puree and mix well. Add the fried Paneer Cubes.
• Let it simmer on low flame for 4-5 minutes.
• Add lime juice and mix well.
• Ready to serve. This recipe serves 4.

Enjoy this Lazeez Broccoli Paneer with any Indian Bread. We savoured it with hot home made Butter Naan. I'll be back with the recipe for the Naan tomorrow. Till then Jai Hind !!!

Baingan Ka Bharta - Roasted Eggplant Dip

This is one of the comfort foods for me, Baingan Ka Bharta . It is traditionally a charcoal-smoked
brinjal/eggplant delicacy cooked with onions and tomatoes. You could even roast the eggplants on a stove top , oven or a gas grill. The preferred way would be the charcoal grill or tandoor where you could get the charcoal flavor.

Ingredients :

• 2 large Eggplants/Baingan (approximately 2 pounds)
• 1 cup red onion finely chopped
• 2 cups tomatoes finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger finely chopped
• 2-3 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• salt to taste
• 4 tbsp oil
• Freshly chopped Cilantro

Preparation :

• Roast the eggplants until the skin starts peeling off. (Baste/Brush them with a little oil before roasting).Allow it to cool.

• Remove the skin and stem.

• Chop and mash the roasted eggplants. Also finely chop the onion,tomatoes, garlic,ginger and green chillies.

• Heat oil and add cumin seeds. When they crackle, add onion and garlic and saute till golden brown. Add ginger and green chillies. Fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes, turmeric powder,red chilli powder and salt. Fry till the oil leaves the sides.
  

• Add the mashed eggplant and mix well. Fry for about 2 -3 minutes. Let it cook for another 4-5 minutes on slow flame.
• Baingan Ka Bharta is ready to be served. Garnish with freshly chopped Cilantro. Serve with hot butter Naan.
• This recipe serves 4.

Tricolor Pilaf with Avocado and Mango Raita

Today's focus is on Avocado. This is another wonder fruit with many health benefits.Its also said that, An Avocado a Day keeps the doctor away.


Some of the health benefits of Avocado :

• Prevention of Breast cancer and Prostrate cancer.
• Good for the health of your Eyes and heart.
• Helps in lowering Cholesterol.
• Prevention of Strokes.
• Known to be a Vitamin E Powerhouse.
• Excellent source of Glutathione which is an antioxidant which prevents aging,cancer and heart diseases.

For more detailed explanation of the health benefits please read here.

Avocado and Mango Raita

Ingredients :

• 1 Avocado peeled and diced
• 1 cup diced mango
• 1 Jalapeno chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion chopped
• handful of fresh Cilantro chopped
• 1 cup plain yoghurt whisked
• salt to taste

Here's a Basic Guide of How to cut and peel an Avocado.

Preparation : I Hope the following pictorial instructions are self explanatory. Just add all the ingredients in a bowl and adjust the seasoning (salt). Raita is ready to serve.

Tricolor Pilaf - Tiranga Pulao

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basmati Rice
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup peas frozen
• 1 cup corn frozen
• handful of raisins
• 1" piece of ginger finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 4-5 peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• salt to taste
  2 tbsp Olive oil

Preparation :

• Wash and Soak 2 cups of rice in 4 cups of water. You will not need to add anymore water to make the pilaf. Just use this rice with the water. Keep this aside for around 15-20 minutes .
• Heat some oil in a pan . Add Cumin seeds. When they splutter, add peppercorns, and the freshly chopped ginger. Fry for about a minute.
• Add the raisins, grated carrot,peas and corn. Fry for a minute.Add turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder. Then add the rice with the water which we had kept aside earlier.
• Let this cook uncovered on medium flame. Now when you see that most of the water has dried up (like 85-90%) set the stove to the lowest flame and cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes
• Your Pilaf is ready to serve with the Avocado and Mango Raita.

* Its Tricolor/Tiranga because of the orange color of the carrot, green color of the peas and yellow of the corn.

Now its award Time :

I have been showered with this wonderful award from two of my blogpals. Kitchen Queen from Khatta Meetha Theekha. and Priya from Priyas Recipes . I appreciate their generosity and kindness. Do check out their blogs. Both of them have a wonderful collection of recipes. I do enjoy visiting them and If you have'nt done so yet..Now's a good time.

I know this post is getting so long already so instead of passing it on to each of you , my amazing and supportive readers, please feel free to accept this award and spread the happiness by displaying it at your space. Happy Blogging and Have a great weekend.